The United States will use military aircraft to airdrop supplies to Gaza
Washington:
The U.S. military will begin airdropping food and supplies into Gaza in the coming days, as other countries such as France, Jordan and Egypt have already done the same.
How does airdrop aid work?
The United States will use military aircraft to airdrop supplies to Gaza. While it’s unclear what type of aircraft will be used, C-17s and C-130s are best suited for the job. According to the U.S. Air Force, a C-130 can hold 16 pallets, while a C-17 can hold 40 pallets.
Military personnel on the ground load supplies onto pallets, which are then loaded onto aircraft and locked into place.
Once the planes fly over the area where supplies are needed, the locks holding them are released and they fly to the ground with the aid of parachutes attached to pallets.
What are the risks?
While the military can learn weather patterns ahead of time, wind plays a big role in ensuring they land where they’re supposed to. Social media videos showed some aid provided by other countries ending up in the sea.
Gaza is densely populated, and officials say it’s difficult to ensure aid reaches those who need it and doesn’t end up somewhere unreachable.
“It is extremely difficult to conduct airdrops in a crowded environment like Gaza,” said John Kirby, President Joe Biden’s top national security spokesman.
Officials also said that without a U.S. military presence on the ground, there is no guarantee that aid will not end up in the hands of Hamas.
What are some examples of past U.S. airdrops?
Every year during the Christmas season, it airdrops humanitarian aid to remote islands in the Pacific, an operation known as “Operation Christmas Airdrop.”
#DYK — Operation Christmas Drop is the world’s longest-running humanitarian and disaster relief mission. This year’s mission includes aircraft from the United States, Japan, South Korea and, for the first time, Canada.https://t.co/Llk7orRuF3pic.twitter.com/RyrsA8x7ho
— United States Air Force (@usairforce) December 13, 2023
In 2014, the U.S. military was airdropping aid in northern Iraq when civilians were trapped by Islamic State militants. In the past few months, more than 100,000 meals and 96,000 bottles of water have been airdropped.
What options are you considering?
The United States is also considering the possibility of establishing a maritime corridor to deliver large amounts of aid to Gaza, President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday.
A U.S. official said one possible option would be to ship aid by sea from Cyprus, about 210 nautical miles off Gaza’s Mediterranean coast.
The official said no decision had been made on military involvement in such an operation, adding that Israel was “very willing” to pursue a maritime option as it would avoid delays caused by protesters blocking land aid convoys.
But the reality is that the option of using the military for sea transport is extremely challenging because there is no clear place to unload aid from ships.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
